Mona Fortier holds on to Ottawa-Vanier for Liberals
Liberals were victorious in three of five federal byelections Monday night, with Mona Fortier easily holding the seat formerly held by Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger, who represented Ottawa-Vanier from 1995 to until his death last August.
“Mauril Bélanger was a steward of Ottawa-Vanier, but also a fighter for what is right,” Fortier said as she stood beside Bélanger’s widow, Catherine.
“It pains me to stand here instead of him.”
A tearful Fortier thanked her supporters.
“Here we are celebrating our collective vision for a riding where everyone is included and prosperity is shared, not by the few but the many.”
She included her NDP opponent Emilie Taman in her speech, saying that when women run for political office, it is a win for the democratic process. Fortier said she ran next to Taman, not against her.
Taman said she was disappointed by the outcome, but would not have done anything differently. She said she was inspired by the level of engagement and the NDP had won many new supporters in the campaign.
Asked if she would run again, she said she wouldn’t rule it out. “Ask me tomorrow.”
Liberal candidates also won in the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent and in Markham-Thornhill, north of Toronto.
With a win by Fortier, OttawaVanier’s 82-year run as a Liberal riding would be unbroken.
The popular Bélanger was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in November 2015, just weeks after his eighth federal election win. There was speculation that his widow, Catherine, would seek the Liberal nomination.
Instead, she endorsed Fortier, a communications consultant and businesswoman who had worked as a volunteer in all of Bélanger’s election campaigns.
Catherine Bélanger said she made that choice because Fortier shares her husband’s values.
“It’s more than being a member of Parliament. It’s caring for people.”
She did not rule out running at some point, but said she was glad she supported Fortier. “I am very happy. And my husband would be, too.”
Bélanger left his party’s riding association with a well-funded political machine and strong grassroots support. In February, the nomination meeting to choose his successor attracted thousands of party members and eight candidates.
Fortier’s key opponent in the byelection was NDP candidate Taman, a former federal prosecutor and daughter of former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour and Larry Taman, a former Ontario deputy attorney-general. In 2015, Taman was fired after she left her job without authorization to run as an NDP candidate. She now teaches law at the University of Ottawa.
Also on the ballot were Green candidate Nira Dookeran, Conservative Adrian Papara, independents John “The Engineer” Turmel and Christina Wilson, and Libertarian Damien Wilson.
With Taman as a candidate, the NDP targeted Ottawa-Vanier in 2015 as a riding where it stood a good chance of winning. In 2011, the previous NDP candidate, Trevor Hache, had finished with 15,391 votes to Bélanger’s 20,009. But in 2015, Bélanger won his eighth election with 36,474 votes to 12,194 for Taman and 12,109 for Conservative David Piccini.
Ottawa-Vanier has more than 110,000 residents spanning a socio-economic gamut. The riding encompasses Vanier and Rockcliffe, as well as Sandy Hill, Lowertown, New Edinburgh and Overbrook and a number of institutions, including the National Research Council, the University of Ottawa and La Cité collégiale. Issues include job creation, infrastructure and affordable housing.
About a third of the residents report French as their mother tongue, and francophone rights are important to many constituents. But there are also a growing number of residents whose first language is neither French nor English.
During the campaign Taman said the NDP was winning over longtime Liberal supporters who were disappointed that the Grits had abandoned their campaign promise to pursue electoral reform in time for the next election.
On the weekend, the National Post reported obtaining emails and memos written by the president and other members of Fair Vote Canada acknowledging that the NDP campaign had provided maps and research to help Fair Vote decide where to deploy its resources to assist the electoral efforts of the candidates it has endorsed. Fair Vote is a third-party group that supports electoral reform, and both the Liberals and Conservatives raised questions about the lines between third parties and official political parties.
The Ottawa-Vanier byelection and four others across the country will fill vacancies left by five seasoned parliamentarians. The byelections are also considered a test of the Liberal government.
As expected, Conservative candidates were in solid control in the two Calgary ridings. Tory Bob Benzen led in Calgary Heritage, formerly held by Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. And Stephanie Kusie held a huge lead in Calgary Midnapore, formerly held by Conservative Jason Kenney, now leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives.
Liberal Emmanuella Lambropoulos was an easy winner SaintLaurent, formerly held by Liberal Stéphane Dion, who has been appointed ambassador to the European Union and Germany; and Markham-Thornhill, formerly held by Liberal John McCallum, now ambassador to China, went to Liberal Mary Ng.